Nick Skelton

Skelton was educated at Bablake School in the city of Coventry in Central England.^[2]

Skelton rode in pony classes with little tuition before taking his pony to Ted and Liz Edgar for help when he was 14. He worked for and helped at the Edgars for two years before leaving school with no qualifications to work full-time for them. Skelton had plenty of early success with a horse called Maybe, but he went lame just before the Junior European Championships in 1975 and his place in the team looked lost. However, a reputedly ordinary horse, O.K., was brought in as a substitute and Skelton won individual gold. After this, he began riding more of the Edgar horses and in 1978, at Olympia, jumped just over 7 foot 7 inches on Lastic to set a new British record, which still stands. When Skelton partnered with St James the following year he broke into the senior GB team, of which he remained an integral part until his retirement.

In 1985, Skelton split from the Edgars and went on his own; his main horse at the time, Apollo, went with him and together they formed a partnership that won nearly all the top prizes in the sport, as well as many Championship medals.^{[citation needed]} After Apollo, Skelton competed at the top level with many different horses before he teamed up with Dollar Girl in 1992 with the specific target of competing at the Barcelona Olympics. Despite the Olympics going badly for them, Skelton and Dollar Girl ultimately won the coveted World Cup Final in Gothenburg in 1995.

In September 2000, Skelton broke his neck in a fall while competing. The injury was serious and could have ended his show jumping career, but after retiring in 2001 he recovered and began competing again in 2002. Skelton returned to the saddle to partner Arko III, a horse he had ridden before breaking his neck. Skelton and Arko won the British Open title in 2004 at the British Open Show Jumping Championships and many other top prizes. Their most disappointing moment came at the Athens Olympics in 2004, where they were leading until the final round but finished out of the medals.

After Arko retired, Skelton revisited an old friend and owner, Gary Widdowson, for support and new horses. Gary and his wife Beverley bought, or co-bought with Skelton, a number of competition horses including Carlo 273, Skelton's European Individual Bronze medal partner, Big Star and Unique.^[3]

Following his Olympic 2012 gold medal, the post boxes in both Alcester, where he resides, and in Bedworth, where he was born, were painted gold in his honour.^[4]

Skelton won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the individual category. In doing so he became the oldest British Olympic gold medallist since 1908.^[5] Following Skelton's success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, rail operator London Midland honoured him with a gold-painted sign at Bedworth railway station.^[6] Skelton received a nomination for the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. He received 109,197 votes, placing him third.^[7] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.^[8]

 

 

Skelton has had many successes at home and abroad and has ridden on over 164 Nations Cups teams (1978–2011).^{[citation needed]} He has won various medals both as an Individual and as part of the teams in the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships between 1980 and 2016.

• Olympic Games
  • 2012: London. Team Gold medal with Big Star
  • 2016: Rio. Individual Gold medal with Big Star
• Alternative Olympic Games
  • 1980: Rotterdam. Team Silver medal with Maybe
• World championships
  • 1982: Dublin. Team Bronze medal with If Ever
  • 1986: Aachen. Team Silver medal and individual Bronze medal with Apollo
  • 1990: Stockholm. Team Bronze medal with Grand Slam
  • 1998: Rome. Team Bronze medal with Hopes are High
• European Championships
  • 1985: Dinard. Team Gold medal and individual 4th with St. James
  • 1987: St. Gallen. Team Gold medal and Individual Bronze medal with Apollo
  • 1989: Rotterdam. Team Gold medal with Apollo
  • 1991: La Baule. Team Silver medal with Phoenix Park
  • 1993: Gijon. Team Silver medal with Dollar Girl
  • 1995: St. Gallen. Team Silver medal with Dollar Girl
  • 2011: Madrid. Team Bronze and individual Bronze medal with Carlo 273
• Junior European Championships
  • 1974: Lucerne. Team Silver medal with Maybe
  • 1975: Dornbirn. Team Silver medal and individual Gold medal with O.K.
• Volvo World Cup Final
  • 1995: Gothenburg. Winner with Dollar Girl
• Hickstead Derby
  • 1987: Winner with J Nick
  • 1988: Winner with Apollo
  • 1989: Winner with Apollo
• King George V Gold Cup
  • 1984: Winner with St. James
  • 1993: Winner with Limited Edition
  • 1996: Winner with Cathleen III
  • 1999: Winner with Hopes are High

Skelton currently holds the British Show Jumping High Jump record, at 7 ft 7in 5/16th (2.32m) set at Olympia in 1978 with Lastic.

 

Top horses that Skelton has ridden include Maybe, If Ever, Apollo, St. James, Major Wager, Top Gun, Grand Slam, Phoenix Park, Dollar Girl, Limited Edition, Showtime, Tinka's Boy, Hopes are High, Russel and Arko III.

Skelton's current top flight horses are Big Star, Carlo 273 and Unique, all of which are owned by Beverley Widdowson.

Skelton won team gold at his home Olympics in London 2012 with his horse Big Star, alongside Ben Maher, Peter Charles and Scott Brash.

Skelton has two sons with his first wife Sarah Skelton (née Edwards) and both are active in horse racing. Daniel is a National Hunt trainer, and Harry is a National Hunt jockey who in 2009 became the youngest winner of the Irish Grand National on Niche Market^{[citation needed]} and in 2020 won the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.^[9]

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to equestrian sport.^[10][11]

In 2001, Skelton published an autobiography, Only Falls And Horses^[12] and wrote a second, Gold, in 2018.

• 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom

• Skelton, N. (2001) Only Falls and Horses. Greenwater.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nick Skelton.

• Official Nick Skelton website
• BSJA profile
• FEI Rider's Biography